Western Wall

  When Solomon set about to build the Jew’s first permanent temple structure in the 10th century BC, he had to deal with a serious topographical dilemma.  Unless one has visited Jerusalem and seen the temple site it is almost impossible to visualize the gargantuan proportions of the task involved.  The temple itself was not large but the manmade plateau or square on which the temple eventually stood was an engineering task of fantastic dimensions. 
            In the first place, there was no practical accommodation for a temple on the summit of Mount Moriah as it existed in its natural state.  It had a steep ascent on three sides and a peak to the north.  The only flat surface was the threshing floor of Araunah and that was barely large enough to accommodate a good sized room.  Solomon’s task was therefore to build a huge platform on top of this mountain and then erect the temple on top of that. 

          Nearly a thousand years later King Herod expanded the efforts of Solomon by building a larger platform.  He followed nearly the same procedure of erecting walls and then filling them in with rock and dirt. On top of this mount Herod rebuilt the Jewish Temple which had earlier been destroyed by the Babylonians. When the Temple was being built, the work was divided among the different sectors of the population. The building of the Western Wall fell to the lot of the poor, and they worked hard to construct it, as they could not afford to hire laborers to do their work for them. In 68 AD however the Temple was again destroyed and the entire city was torn down, this time by the Roman army.  Only one thing remained standing and that was the western retaining wall of the temple mount.  Apparently it was just too massive for the Romans to deconstruct, so instead they buried it.  It would not be uncovered again until the 16th century.  From the onset of the Middle Ages, the area in front of the Wall had been used as a garbage dump. (That is why the gate nearby the Wall is called "Dung Gate.") In the 16th century, the Sultan Suleiman discovered the location of the Wall and had the area cleaned it out and granted permission to the Jews to hold prayers there. 
          Until June 1967 the accessible portion of the wall was no longer than 28 m. In front of it ran a stone-paved alley 3.5 m wide bordered on its west by a slum area. The Wall aboveground consisted of 24 rows of stones of different dressing and age, reaching a total height of 18 m with 6 m above the level of the Temple Mount. In 1867 excavations revealed that 19 more courses lay buried underground, the lowest being sunk into the natural rock of the Tyropoeon Valley.
            With the six day war in June of 1967, the Jews gained control of the Western Wall.  In 1968 the ground in front of the Wall was excavated to reveal two of the buried courses of stone, and the Wall then consisted of seven layers of huge, marginally dressed ("Herodian") stones from the Second Temple above which are four layers of smaller, plainly dressed stones from the Roman or Byzantine periods. The upper stones were constructed after the Moslem conquest.
            Jewish travelers over the centuries used to marvel the immense dimensions of the lower stones - average height 1 m and length 3 m, but some as long as 12 m. and weighing over 100 tons - and believed they were part of Solomon's Temple. They were probably quarried at the Cave of Zedkiah (near the Damascus Gate). In order to withstand the soil pressure of the filling behind the Wall, the rows were laid in a terraced manner, each row being set back a few centimeters relative to the one beneath it. The Wall thus slants slightly eastward. This factor, the weight of the stones, and the accuracy of the cutting account for the unusual stability of the Wall.
          The underground tunnel starting at the north-west of the prayer plaza passes close to the part of the Western Wall that is hidden by the buildings. It goes through a system of vaulted areas and water cisterns. About 350 m. of the Wall have been uncovered, up to the northern edge, which is the north-western corner of the Temple Mount. In a tunnel the largest stones of the Wall were found, including a giant stone about 60 m long, 3 m. high and 4 m. wide, and weighing approximately 400 tons.

            Farther back from the wall is a broad open square paved with light-colored sandstone, which can hold tens of thousands of people.  Prior to 1967 it was just a mess of apartments. It has since been bulldozed by the Israeli Government forming a plaza larger than Times Square.  This forum today is used for dancing, singing and meetings.  About two thirds of the space immediately in front of the wall is reserved for the men; women have access to the last third, separated by a low latticed fence from the rest of the Jewish holy site. A vaulted arch screened from view to the north is known as Wilson's Arch, which in Herodian times linked the Temple Mount with the Upper City. Men go to the western wall with their heads covered with either a yarmulke or a hat. Even non-Jews are to wear these and there is a pile of yarmulkes near the western wall for tourists to borrow.  When people are finished praying at the western wall they are supposed to walk away with their backs away from the western wall as a sign of reverence. 
          Today with all of the terrorist bombings the wall is heavily guarded.  No matter which entrance you enter into the western wall plaza, you have to put your baggage through an x-ray machine, and each person has to go through a metal detector, very similar to what you have to go through at an airport. Security guards have bulletproof vests and some carry machine guns. Also people aren't allowed to take pictures of these checkpoints.  The Wall’s meaning clearly extends beyond religion.  It is the symbol of Judaism as a nation, a religion, a people, and a culture.